The clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1883-1888, 1887-08-03
UNCEAsING TOLL THE LAW.


The Address by the Hon. W. E. Moilison, Of Issa
quena County, before large audience, at til,
e Commencement of Aleorn a. 4 NJ. College, Jun.
-, at the close Of one Of the Most Successful
Years in the History OF the College The Colleg,
sent out this Year Nine Graduates
We come to witness no unimportant
event in the history of Alcorn 4. & NJ
College, and the lives of those to whom
she has entrusted her name and fame
among men.
No idle curiosity would be sufficient
to bring from all parts of the State SO
! many intelligent, earnest faces as | see
before me. Deeper than the desire to
, enjoy the intellectual entertainment.
which these exercises furnish, must be
your interest in the great work which
they show is here being done, and your
earnest wish that the voyage here begun
may be attended with favorable winds.
That your presence and intelligent
interest have inspired them all, we have
seen in the bright flash of the eve, the
) buoyant step and manly bearing of each
and ALL
} EACH GALLANT BARK
has been launched amid the pomp and
circumstances of this proud occasion,
with streamers flying, and every rope
and sail in perfect trim. Each glides
into the waiting welcome arms OF the
great gray sea-the public, attended by
our heartiest God speed. And lest some
should in the enthusiasm of this win
some, welcome hour, surrounded by
loving friends and appreciative auditors,
forget that the brilliant scene must
become only memoTy-that the storm
and tempest must come-I bring these
words of admoniti9n. | speak of the
necessity for unceasing toll. | speak to
all. 1t matters little if you are possessed
of talent unbounded, and that genius
has been given you without stint-to
each and all the law of toll is the same.
OF all the laws in force there is none of
wider acceptation and founded on
greater wisdom than that law which
makes toll necessity But for its uni
versal adoption the world would not yet
be fit to live in. The jungles would be
limpenetrable, the forests as primeval as
, in ''history's gray down" Wild beasts
would hold undisputed sway where
stately temples of
| AhI AMI COMMEhC
now lift aloft their fretted spires. No
ties of steel would bind the North and
South, the East and West; no light
nings flash across the continents beneath
old oceans wide domains, would
bear messages meaning life and death,
happiness or misery to millions. No
great leviathans, with lungs of fire and
breath of fame, would plow the deep.
If the command to toll had not in all
the ages been the law, science would not
yet have snatched from the pallid cheek
of unpaid labor the tear of want, and
have converted it into steam TO turn the
countless wheels of commerce and
| gladden. the hearts of the worlds weary
workers. When you reflect that this
law of toll is in force among the most
| favored people, you must conclude that
it is a necessity among your people.
You go forth as pioneers and leaders
| You will be weighed in the balance of
practical affairs, aud hard viii it be unto
you if you are found wanting in them.
1t will be presumed that the efforts of
THESE ABLE INSTRUCTORS
have not been exerted for naught, that
these golden moments have not been
wasted. Those among whom your en-
| deavors must of necessity be made are
simple, guileless children of nature
| They will not be content to look upon
your diploma hanging idly upon your
walls. They will expect accomplish
ments. Stations will not be wanting in
which you can be of genuine service to
mankind. You must fill them intelli
gently and well or you must step aside,
and give place to stouter hearts and
more willing hands. In every walk of
life this law prevails.
The young disciple of Blackstone and
| Story, who goes forth with his diploma
observing that "there is always room at
the top" carries with him the prestige
which College honors always give. He
may possess the genius of Webster, may
equal in polished eloquence all Everett
or a Choate; he may be able to wiring
from unwilling lips the highest need of
praise, and yet unless he works without
ceasing, works not upon the Olympus
of his profession, but IN the Iowly places
where no plaudits reach his ears, his
genius and eloquence and wit will serve
him not. His stately studied periods
will count for little in the hard stony
paths, where fact and not fancy is the
weapon of attack and defense, where
| the life or fortune of his client and his
own reputation are the prizes. No set
form of speech will here avail.
If you would win, you must toll with
out ceasing, il order that you may
know. You must understand not only
the hill which stands in your pathway
but the shrubs and plants which hide
its dangerous places. If you are not
content to delye deep in the mire of
| knowledge, you can accomplish no
genuine success in any of the fields
where battles of intellect must be fought
and won.
Some of you will enlist your services
in the great battle against physical pain
and suffering, will seek to obtain, in the
trial of agony, the stay of execution
which death threatens to levy upon the
unwilling debtors of Nature. No time
for idleness here. When your services
are required they must be rendered at
once. No time to consult authorities
and enjoin proceedings. You must be
prepared, by unceasing toll, to act in
telligently and with dispatch. If you
imagine that you know all when the
College or University does its work on
you, and then sit supinely down, you
will increase in nothing but age and
egotism. You will travel in the groove
in which the College left you until you
wear it deep enough to bury your un
| fortunate patients. You will claim
victories which Nature won in spite Of
you, and cover up with excuses and dirt
the failures resulting from ignorance
until the church yards will bear mute
evidence of your lack of toll. A life
time of arduous, faithful effort will
profitably be spent in this profession,
for each day sees some new discovery of
| the treatment of some one of the thous-
and ills incident to a complex ciyiliza-
ton. Your work is often final. The
blunders of the ignorant, lazy lawyer
may be remedied by appeal or review
but who will come to review or appeal
from the physicians blunder or lack of
skill-bcfore what court and for whose
benefit? Some of you may be entrusted
with interests greater than health or
wealth. You may be called upon to
ENLIGHaEE THE MINDS
and direct the moral energies of people.
In this calling is room unlimited for
genuine service to mankind. You may
be called upon to go down among the
lowly and them raise up to your high
plane. If you conclude that a theologi-
cal education and elocution are all you
need to win success, and comfort your
~~.lE ~ ~ 90 -.